I like some but mostly feel so sad for the house. It's like a hose was put to it and washed away so much of the character and soul.

Umm..lighting. Where do I begin? I'm still reeling over that hideous thing hanging from the ceiling in the first master bedroom. All I can think of is a ball of giant light emitting golden bubble wrap that I want to pop.

Noooooooo! Poor house, I weep for you.

Wow, that's awful. I just imagine how beautiful that house could have been with a restoration and some thoughtful updating! I live in an area with a lot of ugly brick houses that are improved with a bit of paint but to turn a Tudor into some kind of eclectic gingerbread house is just a travesty.

Carolina Girl -- $125k for that beauty? What a steal!

As soon as I saw they painted the brick, I knew I wasn't going to like the rest. The "feature" staircase, and they painted it? Not my style of house now at all, looks cold and uninviting. Loved the original house.

One of the worst ever. Tacky and uncomfortable, and the inside and outside scream at each other. This house could have been comfortable, interesting and beautiful. Instead, your eye wanders from one boring atrocity to another. What a horrible waste.

I couldn't finish. I'm not a purist when it comes to old house, or even woodwork in old houses, but what they did to that house was a crime. I only made it as far as the library. It was to depressing to read on.

I am with cawaps, had to stop looking. This is heartbreaking! Loved the original house, which could have been updated to our current time with character intact. The dollars to restore this to pre-Mr Gray is probably cost prohibitive for most. A travesty.

sorry i didn't get to the end..WHY on Earth did they paint the brick?? what about THAT brick bothered them? the wood-these balusters-why?

it's like taking a classic book making a spin on it..no, there's a reason, a very good one usually, folks read that very same book for a century or two or three..write your own book, nobody's interested in your boring spin. you are not better than the author. and if you were-you'd create your own classic

couple not-so -related questions

a) why does Joni love it so much? i don't read there usually, but I know the blog..it's rather good

b) why they don't build it like that anymore? well, for most part

c) now i understand why "blueprints" are "blueprints"))

...

...

It's interesting though how the tide turns. Some years back I think the opinions would have been split about 50-50 on this one.

I remember being told once that I was one of those people who who worshipped wood even when it was all dark and dried out, and only liked old things because they were old and it didn't matter how old or dated or ugly it was, I just liked it because it was old.

I couldn't finish looking. What a terrible waste of a home. Why did they have to ruin it instead of just building new? Sad.

Formerly beautiful home now a contrived nightmare.

There's some nonsense in the comments or the posts about a light fixture donation or give away. I don't care enough to wade through that mess again to get specifics. But, it might be the reason for the effusive praise.

Pal, come sit at my lunch table. Don't let the clueless bullies get under your skin :)

only liked old things because they were old and it didn't matter how old or dated or ugly it was, I just liked it because it was old.

Is there supposed to be something wrong with that?

Yes, apparently there was supposed to be something wrong with that.

ETA--I think the implication was that I didn't like anything current, only because it was current. And not because "current" may have ruined something that was perfectly fine the way it was (or could be again with just a little help).

I couldn't finish looking, either. Sometimes you need to know when to put the paint away. And then there is the kitchen with all that overhead nonsense. That's as far as I got. I. Just. Can't.

Wow!!! I don't !! think she used ENOUGH !!!!!! exclamation !! points !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exhausting.

I'm actually a modern/contemporary kind of person. Okay, I can see opening up rooms when they're poky little boxes that can't even hold a queen-sized bed or a SxS refrig.

But what struck me about the decorating was that you could have lifted most of those rooms' decor and transferred them in an urban loft in NYC, and it would be fine. Because in an urban loft, you don't look outwards, it's all about what and who is inside.

There wouldn't be such a sense of dislocation between what it looked like before, vs what it looks like now. There's a remoteness to the glitzy new decor which overwhelms some of the few things they did improve (the kitchen, the room with the corner cupboards).

What a disaster. Sad. And I don't think I would care to win any of those light fixtures.

Truly heartbreaking. I think I know who lived in that house for many years. It is her house, she's rolling in her grave.

The furnishings in this house are straight out of Property Brothers! No taste, no class, no quality. And that enormous DR furniture, dwarfing the room - looks like furniture on steroids.

It's nothing less than a travesty, and I don't believe for a moment they ever intended to stay in that house. It was a flip from the very beginning.

As for Joni...well, there was a time her blog was pleasant, but the last couple of years, I think she's gone off her meds and it's just one exclamation mark after another. She's nuts...

The neighbors must be apoplectic.

They ruined that house. And why are there five lights over the island that looks like they could decide?

At first I wondered how they cracked the bricks on the garage...then I realized that is how the look when you slather white paint all over an intentionally uneven design. The awful lighting would at least be an easy fix. The wood...oh, dear.

So tacky and tasteless. Why wouldn't they just build a new McMansion instead of wrecking a grand old dame of a house? I don't mind painted brick in lots of circumstances, but that was lovely brick. And the staircase honestly makes me want to weep.

The exterior bricks smothered in paint almost prevented me from looking further. I wish I hadn't. The staircase, once a dignified and rich structure of satiny finished wood, now looks as though it's constructed of painted plywood.

I, too, couldn't look anymore.

Yesterday the link took too long to load and my computer kept timing out. I was curious. I should not have wasted the time. I think it is a house that is really a lighting store. I think the school that "educated" this designer should give their money back. I think the magazine that is gushing over this re-do should no longer be considered an opinion that is worth anything. ISH ISH ISH. Rather like that HGTV show which featured Bronson Pinchot one TACKY idea after another.

They drank too many of those wine bottles before deciding on decor.

Horribly slooooow loading blog. The woman knows nothing about photo optimization prior to upload. Won't be back.

The only tolerable room to me is the library and I still preferred the old version. Not a fan. So sad. :(

I can only imagine what the neighbors were thinking when they saw that beautiful Tudor being painted white! :0

You know, it is not that I am always opposed to painting wood. I have done it. but I just don't like the way they did it!.

Looks like a RH catalog shoot set.

Good grief, that sickens me :-(

That "wine cellar" has too many lights and is probably too warm to really be effective. Maybe they have it refrigerated or something, but it looks more like a wine retailer with that glass storefront door. Tacky add show-off.

The most important aspect of this conversation is that Palimpsest is back!!! Yay, welcome back Pal I've missed you so :)

I can't say I like the redesign much, it is their house, I say they can do whatever they want with it.

What a terrible, terrible shame!

Here in the UK similar crimes against historical properties and good taste happen too. Close to where we live currently some very nice large 1920s Tudor style houses have also been demolished and replaced with contemporary properties that are often even larger, but rarely an improvement on the original.

Despite having a scheme of 'listing' buildings of interest to protect them, these 1920s houses are usually considered of little architectual merit. Our house was built in the 1850s, extended in Arts & Crafts style in the 1920s and has lots of characterful features. The only protection it has is its inclusion in a Conservation Area and it being registered as having 'townscape merit'. We need permission to make external changes, but the council here generally approve all kinds of inappropriate alterations, our neighbour's similar house being a prime example, where ugly white plastic windows and white painted brickwork has been allowed......

Raphaella x

UGH! And every light fixture in that house is just bu** UGLY!

I couldn't even finish it I thought it was so awful. Such a lovely house and in my opinion, it was ruined!

What a travesty to paint the exterior white. They should have hired a restoration company to clean the brick instead.

Okay, there are a few things that I would do differently, but for the most part, I really like the redo. These folks came in and completely restored this wonderful house. Took it down to the studs and has given it back its life. I like the fresh look. Dark floors and light walls. Fresh and clean.

I also like alot of the lights. The kitchen used to have a really ugly fan and a rectangular fluorescent light fixture. Big improvement in my opinion. When I look at the pictures, I think that they kept a lot of the character giving features of the house, the windows and the woodwork. Yes they painted the woodwork, but again, they were going for a brighter look and I like it. No, I don't especially like the grey rail, or the painted exterior, but I used to live on a street with about six Tudor style houses and it was refreshing when one was painted a little differently then all the rest.

Some of you think that the neighbors are horrified at what happened to this home. I think that they are probably ecstatic with joy. Someone came in and improved the property value of this home and improved theirs also. This property was overgrown and neglected. It now has someone there who loves it and I imagine is taking care of it.

I am a lover of old houses. I love their character and charm. I love the quarter sawn oak floors, the quaint built-ins, the wide trim, and the handy laundry shoots. But I do think there are things that can be improved upon. We might not agree on the decorating style, but I think they did a good thing to this house. They didn't come in and tear out all the windows. They left in the character woodwork. I like most of it and think that this house is much happier now than it was before the redo.

Same here as far as letting homes change with the times, the tastes and needs of new generations of occupants. And I find nothing sad in painting wood, though I often cringe at old (usually pine) paneling being replaced with drywall as an "improvement."

That said, as a former appraiser I saw many old homes that, instead of being updated while treasuring and preserving what was special about them, were remodeled to be "like new" in current tract home style. This is often the sad fate of old homes NOT located in historic areas (where higher purchase prices tend to protect those from people who really just want a new home they can't afford with traditional detailing.)

In any case, to me both the remodeling and the decorating here have produced something that looks it was copied out of a current decorating catalog, and yes, in an upscale tract home style. The owner would of course strongly disagree that any missed opportunity is regrettable, and so he should, but mostly I just found it very boring to check out.

That was bad. Why do that to a lovely old house? They could have built new if that's what they like. And, why would you take out plaster? It's so much better than drywall. Painting the exterior brick like that? They ruined that poor house.

Much of it is absolutely ridiculous! and looks like a interior design store/furniture store/ lighting store, not to mention the really silly junk, like doghouse wood and thingy above the door, and the dumb end tables by the white couch look like flea mrkt. flip finds never updated. I could go on, but you get the idea, I'm sure, oh and forgot those stupid mirrors on the stairs wall. LOL

Here's something to consider, some of that wood is absolutely NOT available today at a cost anyone but the wealthiest home owner could afford. And even if the wood is available, the quality is not the same. The best woods have been taken and regrowing conditions are not the same. This kind of wood will not be seen again, ever. It is so wasteful and cost ineffective to take something of value and downgrade it. Buy a modern home if you don't like woodwork! Plus, a little bit of paint goes a long way. There was a time when dark brown and ebony wood (mahogany, chestnut, walnut, hickory, etc.) and red and dark blue velvet signaled "rich" since those woods and dyes were expensive. To me, white just says, "ubiquitous, mass produced mart store." I mean there was a time when even mass production had the touch of human craftsmanship and rich materials, but we are being conditioned to accept a much cheaper look as being desirable, to continue to feed our throwaway economy. Littlebug hit the nail on the head of why I don't like the stair railing, " The staircase, once a dignified and rich structure of satiny finished
wood, now looks as though it's constructed of painted plywood." Because of course, nowdays if you wanted something similar within the budget of the common person, you would have to make it out of painted plywood. This is economics, natural materials are becoming scarcer, so substitutions must be made. So to me, that is even MORE reason not to throw away something so valuable. And to not realize the value of it is sad, very sad. It's one thing to not like that style, fine, you don't have to have it or live with it. It's another thing all together to take something rare and valuable and destroy it, when there are plenty of other options out there.

Dissenting opinion. I like a lot of it. I like the lightened interior and exterior. I do not care for the kitchen, though. I didn't see the master bedroom. It is not totally my taste, but I do like how much lighter it feels. I am not a fan of dark wood except on floors.

The designer has responded to the dislike. Quoting: "You have no idea that I live in a very grand European style home, full
of beautiful antiques and very Aidan Grayesque lighting! I see it, I
live it, I design it every day."

Interesting that his home by the water will be in my state - Maine.

"It was not our intention to flip
it, but I found a home in Maine, that I feel in love with and decided I
wanted a house on the water. I work 6 days a week at Aidan Gray, doing
what I love, but I barely get to enjoy the house in Texas, so it was not
practical to keep the Tudor, regardless of how much I loved it. I am
excited about the total gut and remodel in Maine, the difference here
is, it is a non-descript 1981, never been updated home. It will look
nothing like this one and will be the heart and soul of our future
family vacations."

If one does not like the aesthetics of a Tudor, then one should not buy a Tudor. Especially an historic Tudor. I read through the comments section and noted his explanations of why he did certain things and I'm still not convinced that this man should have bought this house to "renovate". That beautiful house is weeping over it's makeover and so am I.

Wow, so very late to this thread but ouch. Now I'm a sucker for a glitzy, shiny object and would be guilty of purchasing some of the furnishing/accessory choices here, but wow, the crimes done to this poor home. We have similar Tudors in the neighborhood and they've been painted much more successfully (my preference would be to keep the wood and brick, however). The stone entry surround screams "They picked the wrong colors to paint, please save me". And the murder scene that follows gets worse and worse.

To me, it's less RH than Ballard Designs (and I like Ballard Designs). It's like a BD shop come to life, except colder and with less function and a dire need of editing and restraint

I'm late to this thread as well, but wow. They completely ruined that house. RUINED it. All of that gorgeous wood is covered in paint. The historical charm of the tudor exterior color scheme is destroyed with generic looking paint that doesn't even go with the original stone work around the front door. It looks as though they took a charmingly historic house and treated it in the same way that they would a builder grade brick house: paint everything and take away every bit of original character. What a disappointment. I feel sorry for the neighbors.